Chapter 15
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
For the first time in recent memory, Mark had been eager to check his mailbox. It was an odd sensation prying open that narrow domed hatch and retrieving what was inside with so much anticipation. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d opened it and received anything but junk mail or bills. Yet now he’d been checking it religiously for three straight days.
And here it was. Val’s letter.
He let his fingertips travel over the indents of where her hand had pushed the tip of the pen against the envelope reveling in the feel of it. Those loopy cursive ridges. It made sense that her handwriting would be as bold and larger than life as she was.
Reverently, Mark slit it open and tugged the dark purple paper from its holder. Each of her words settled over him like the ripples of a stone entering a pond. She said some of the things he’d expected, but some of the subject matter astonished him.
Like him, she hadn’t mentioned the day-to-day stuff they typically discussed during a call. Instead, she opened up to him. Everything that had poured out of her had been personal and private. And deeply moving.
I want you to know how much I appreciate those hours when you stayed with me while Dad was undergoing those terrifying surgical procedures. I meant so much to me that you were there, and looking back, if I’d been all by my lonesome sitting in that waiting room, I might’ve lost my ever-loving mind. I didn’t because you were there to keep me together. You kept me from falling apart, Mark. So thank you.
She’d already thanked him for that, but seeing it written out like this was somehow more intense. More powerful.
There are so many moments in every single day that I wish you were next to me. Small things. Like finding a great burger joint while out on the road. One time in Missouri, we stopped at a truck stop. It wasn’t anything out of the ordinary, just a roadside truck stop like you’d find anywhere.
Yet this place served the best cheeseburger I’ve ever eaten. To this day, no one has beaten them for taste, not even the nicer, higher end family restaurants I’ve been to. How crazy is that?
He pictured it. Pictured her waxing poetic about a cheeseburger in the middle of nowhere Missouri surrounded by big, burly trucker guys. It made for a comical image. He wondered what they’d thought of her, Valentine Bernard in her glitzy attire, flashy makeup, and pretty white and gold cowboy hat going right to town on her burger. Probably at a table that was sticky from the last people who inhabited it.
Now, he wanted to take her out to The Steer House. They might be famous for their steaks, but he preferred their bacon cheeseburger. He wondered what she’d think of the place. And they never had sticky tables.
That same old yearning for her to be here with him ping-ponged across his brain and throughout his entire system. Yet it didn’t twinge quite as acutely as it had been. He knew he wasn’t any closer to her physically, but somehow it felt like he was closer to her anyway. He didn’t know how to describe it.
His mom had been right. Letters were definitely the way to go. He didn’t know if he’d admit that to his mother right away, though. Then, she might start giving him more unsolicited relationship advice.
Then again, if it would be this successful, maybe he should just shut up and take it.
While getting ready for work that morning, he slipped Val’s letter into his back pocket and anytime something would remind him of her, he’d pull it out and read it again. He had it memorized word for word now, but it didn’t matter. Having it with him all the time brought him comfort. He could hold that sheaf of stationery and see it as a representation and reminder of her. That she existed. That she cared.
Mark : I loved your letter. I’ve kept it with me all day today. Also, I’m writing you another one.
Val : Ooh, I can’t wait. I’ve got yours taped to my vanity mirror so I can see anytime I’m sitting there, which is a lot.
Mark : Lol. I can imagine that.
She next sent him an image of it, and he grinned at it for two solid minutes until she texted him back.
Val : Please note that I’m sending you another one, as well. Bet you get mine before I get yours. *fingernail painting emoji*
Mark : You’re on. *thumbs up emoji*
The moment he got off work, he jotted down a quick letter and mailed it off. Suddenly, there was a sense of play and lightness to their relationship, and frankly, that had never been there before. Everything they’d encountered together from day one had involved aggressive ex-boyfriends, sick fathers, clogged schedules, and tons of distance. It felt wonderful to have something between them that they could enjoy for once.
He had a mixed reaction to receiving Val’s second missive the subsequent day. Glee at having another memento from her that he could keep, and the slightest flutter of disappointment that he’d lost the bet. Not that he cared all that much. This was pretty much a win-win all the way around. So, he fessed up.
Mark : Looks like you won.
He sent her the image of the unopened letter.
Val : What? You haven’t opened it yet? I tore into yours in one second flat.
That made his heart glow.
Mark : Fine, fine. I’m opening it as we speak.
He did, too, delighted to find more of that flowery writing of hers.
You should know that even though I was with Biggs for five long years—and with-him with him for three of them—this relationship, fraught as it’s been with absence is already leaps and bounds better. I’m so glad I met you. I’m so glad that you showed me how real men without massive chips on their shoulders treat those they’re dating.
His throat tightened at this. Not that he’d ever cop to it. As the feeling passed, his phone calendar dinged, notifying him of a reminder coming the next month. A week’s worth of paid time off. Yeah, right. If precedence stayed true to form, this year with be like every other in that his time off fell through.
It was why he never took any of his vacations. That first year when he was still a deputy sheriff, he’d attempted to, but something had come up. He’d been required to go in. Then, it’d happened the next year, too.
Such was the life of a small-town sheriff when staff was minimal and often, you were the only person trusted to handle the job. But, if he enlisted the assistance of Rusty this time around, he might be able to pull it off. Maybe. Regardless, he held his breath as he called Val directly over Zoom. He needed to see her face to face, even if it involved the cold touch of technology and a phone screen.
“Hey, there you are,” she greeted him, her amber eyes twinkling as she smirked at him with lips painted a delicate pink. He wished he could kiss them. What he chose to do. however, was get straight to the point.
“Tell me what’s on the docket for you in precisely four weeks.”
She blinked, disappearing from his screen presumably so she could look it up. Then, she was back. “Well, I have a rodeo on the fifth and on the sixteenth. Why?”
“The fifth and the sixteenth?” He had to doublecheck.
“Yeah.”
“So you’ll be in Billings on those dates in the middle?”
“That’s right. Then Dad is released from his skilled nursing care, so I’ll have to stay local again.”
“How would you feel about having a visitor? Or even visiting me?”
Her eyes became wide as saucers. “Are you telling me that you’re available at the same time that I am?” She sounded nervous, and he had to confess that it did seem too good to be true.
“That’s exactly what I’m telling you.”
She squealed, jumping up and down. “I can’t believe it.”
“Me, either,” he admitted. “I’m almost afraid to say it too loud.”
She giggled, and he chuckled right back at her, her euphoria escalating his.
“Okay, so it’s a date. You coming here first, and am I going there?”
Her willing attitude had him grinning. He didn’t even know if he could stop. “I don’t care. How about you come here?”
“Done. Now, let’s make a pact. Nothing will prevent this from happening. Even if something comes up for one of us, the other will go to them. Yes?”
“One hundred percent.” He’d never agreed to a pact faster.
As he might’ve predicted, that next month dragged like a sickly sloth. Their letters practically flew back and forth as if each were trying to get in as many as possible in the interim. It helped a little. But nothing could dampen his enthusiasm for being in her literal presence again. He didn’t think wild horses could hinder him.
His only fear—and he was trying hard not to catastrophize—was that something might occur simultaneously to each of them. That would be the one instance that would ruin their plans. But even though it was outside the box thinking for him, he did his best to visualize everything happening like they wanted it to. Because he needed this. He was certain they both did.
He would show her around town and stroll with her through the square, maybe even get a photo of her with the founder and his horse. He’d take her to The Steer House, just like he’d thought, and most pertinent of all, he’d hold her.
Mark might not ever be willing to let go of her again, either.
On her side of things, she’d suggested riding horses together at her little homestead and stables. Not only did she have Maybelline, but she boarded a couple of other horses there, as well. Mainly for the money.
This was a recent update that Mitzi had suggested, and so far, it’d worked out great. Mark agreed to everything. He’d agree to do anything she wanted. And the notion of again enjoying an old hobby of his just made him happier.
If felt almost surreal when he picked her up at the Overlook Grand Mountain Lodge where she’d be lodging. But at that point, he would’ve picked her up on the moon if she’d asked him. The first thing he did was what he’d promised himself as he held there right there in the lobby for five entire minutes.
Their embrace went on for long enough that they started getting stares, and he knew the local gossip mill would be reporting on this like it was major news. But he didn’t give a hoot. He’d waited an inordinately long time for this, and he refused to apologize for doing what had been delayed for far too long.
He nearly zeroed in on her lips for a kiss, but the manager of the hotel approached.
“Sheriff, is there anything I can help you with?” Couldn’t the guy see that he wasn’t in uniform? And that Val was in Mark’s arms? Was he blind?
“No. I’m good.”
“Well, it’s just that we’ve never had the honor of your presence without there being some official business afoot.”
The guy wasn’t even looking in Val’s direction. Mark took in a breath. “Nothing happening now. Don’t worry.”
He’d only glimpsed down at Val for a split-second when the manager continued to bulldoze forward. “Sheriff?—”
“Listen, Mr. Jacoby? Is that your name?” she interrupted the man.
“Yes,” Jacoby finally registered who Val was. “Ms. Bernard, I heard that you’d be with us for a few days. If there’s anything I can personally do to ensure that your stay is an excellent one, please let?—”
She cut him off again, smiling the whole time. “One thing you can do is let me be with my man, here. The sheriff and I have some private business to attend to.”
“Oh, of course. And let me upgrade your regular room to one of our suites at no extra charge and have our bellboy see to your bags. Sorry to intrude.”
“That’d be lovely. Thank you.”
“You know,” she leaned in to whisper in Mark’s ear. “Right now, you’re off-duty. And soon, you’ll be coming home with me to ride horses.”
“That’s true.”
“So how about you temporarily relinquish your sheriff title and trade it in for cowboy.”
“Cowboy, eh.” He smiled at her. “I like that.”
“Yes,” she said, pinning him up against the wall of a nearby alcove that was more out of the way. “ My cowboy.”
And with that whispered announcement, she kissed him.